1. AMERICAN LITERATURE  Essential Questions for the Year  What makes American literature American?  What is the relationship between literature and place?  How does literature influence and reflect society?

2. Unit 1 – Beginnings to 1800: The Puritan Era "....we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, (and that) the eyes of the people are upon us...” John Winthrop, 1630

3. Who Were the Puritans?  Broad term for Protestant groups that aimed to “purify” the Church of England around 1560  Many were persecuted in England  William Bradford led a small group (Pilgrims) in 1620 to America  Between 1630-1640, 20,000 Puritans migrated to America—the “Great Migration”  Hoped to build a society built around the Bible

4.  What problems do you think would arise from establishing laws based on a set of specific religious beliefs?

5. Government by Contract  Believed a covenant (contract) existed between God and man  Believed people should enter into contracts concerning government  Mayflower Compact – forerunner of constitutional democracy  Because religion and law were one, there was little room for compromise

6. Education  Literacy was highly valued since it was needed to read the Bible.  Established grammar schools to teach reading and writing  Founded Harvard in 1636 to train the clergy

7. Puritan Writing  Saw direct connections between Biblical events and their own lives  Explored inner and outer lives for signs of God’s work  Diaries and histories were the most common writing  Plain style

8. Puritan Legacy  Laid foundation for constitutional government  Puritan/Protestant work ethic  Self-reliance  Industriousness  Thrift  Simplicity

9. What was the American Dream for the Puritans?

10. Puritans We’ll Be Reading

11. Anne Bradstreet Considered America’s first poet

12. Edward Taylor Known for inventive extended metaphors/concei ts

13. Jonathan Edwards Famous for “fire- and-brimstone” imagery in his sermons Intellectually, he bridged the Puritan era and the Rationalist era